Cable looping pliers



May 4, 1954 J. KOHLER 2,677,293

CABLE LooPING PLIERS v Filed April 3, 1952 IN VEN TOR. BY fmaw d mals Kfm/l IMJ KAL Patented May 4, 1954 CABLE LOOPING PLERS .lohn Kohler, Akron,`hio, assignor of one-half to Arthur S. Helbig,Akron, Ohio Application'Aprilv 3, 1952, Serial N0. 280,270

The invention relates to a hand tool for bending a wire cable and more particularly to an improved tool of the pliers type for bending the cable into a substantially closed loop and holding the loop while a retaining clip is secured to the ends thereof. v

In the use of wire cables for many purposes, e. g., as guy wires, it is frequently necessary to bend the attaching end of the wire into a loop and to secure the free end tothe run of the cable by means of a suitable clip. Certain prior tools for bending wires or cables have had various disadvantages. For example, such tools have lacked the proper elements to bendthe cable easily into a regular loop, or have not had Ameans to secure the handles in loop-forming position. Also, such tools have not been designed to make a relatively sharp bend in the wire.

Moreover, all of the prior tools for this purpose of which I am aware, have been cumbersome, awkward and unwieldy in operation.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved tool for bending by hand a wire cable into a relatively small substantially closed regular loop.

Another object is to provide an improved wire loop bending tool which is designed to produce efcient lever action during the bending operation.

A further object is to provide a simple and inexpensive tool which accomplishes the foregoing desiderata.

These and other objects are accomplished by the parts, combinations and constructions comprising the present invention, a preferred eml bodiment of which is shown by way of example in the accompanying drawing and described in detail in the specication, the scope of the invention being deiined in the appended claims.

Referring to the drawings forming part hereof,

Fig. 1 is an elevation of the improved tool with the jaws in closed position for forming a loop indicated in dot-dash lines;

Fig. 2 is a side view, partly in section, taken on line 2-2, Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary elevation showing the jaws in open position at the start of forming the loop; and

Fig. 4 is an elevation of one of the cableengaging hooks which are mounted on the ends of the jaws.

The handle levers are indicated at 5 and 6 and are pivotally connected or hinged together by a pivot pin 'I passing through their crossed portions. The levers 5 and 6 may be made of 2 Claims. (Cl. 81-15) at bar stock and are preferably offset at 6 and 9, respectively, towards each other to bring the lower handle portions l0 and Il substantially in the same plane and to limit the closing movement of the levers by abutment of the offset portions.A

One of the handle portions, shown in the drawing as the portion H, has one end of a wireVA loop l2 passing through its lower end, the free end of said loop being adapted to swing over thev end of the other handle portion I0 when the handles are in closed position as shown in Fig. 1. Thus the loop l2 acts as a keeper to secure the' handle levers inv closed position.

Above the pivot pin '1, the handle levers and 6V are formed into opposed jaws I3 and'flrespectively, the jaw f3 being offset to make the upper ends of the jaws substantially coplanar. The jaws have curved or hook-shaped cable-engaging members l5 and I6 secured to their outer ends, as by welding. As shown, the hook members l5 and I6 are secured to the sides of the jaws and are thus offset from the plane of the jaws.

A swinging arm I'l is mounted at its lower end on the pivot pin 'l and projects upwardly behind the crossed lever portions connected by the pivot pin. The upper end of the arm l1 carries a bending post I8 which is preferably cylindrical and extends forwardly between and beyond the jaws I3 and I4. The bending post I8 extendsrfor- Wardly at a right angle to the arm il and to the plane of motion of the upper ends of the jaws so as to form a means around which the jaws bend a cable upwardly into a loop as the jaws are brought together from open position of Fig. 3. As shown, an abutment piece I9 is secured on one of the jaws, shown as jaw 6, and has a curved shoulder 20 which is in the plane of the hooks I5 and I6 for engaging and supporting the closed end of the wire loop 2l as the bending operation is being completed with the wire cable engaged in the hooks.

The inner opposing edges of the jaws I3 and i4 are cut out or recessed a short distance above the pivot pin, as shown at 22 and 23 respectively, to t around the bending post I8 when the jaws are brought together in the closed position of Fig. 1. In this position, the upper ends of the jaws abut each other and the hooks I5 and I6 are spaced apart. By providing these recesses, the ends of the jaws are kept relatively close to the pivot pin with the result that a maximum amount of leverage is applied through the jaws to eiect the bending of the cable.

In the operation of the improved tool, the jaws the spread apart by spreading the handle levers as shown in Fig. 3, and the arm I1 positioned substantially midway between the jaws. A stretch of the cable C which is to be bent into a loop is then positioned between the hook members I5 and I6 and the bending post I8 and the handle levers squeezed together. As the jaws I3 and I4 move toward each other about the pivot I, the hook members bend the cable upwardly around the bending post in the form of a loop, and as the jaws approach the closed position of Fig. 1, the resilience of the cable C tends to cause the closed end oi the loop 2I to spring downwardly where it engages the abutment shoulder 20. When the jaws I3 and I4 reach their closed position, the keeper loop I2 is swung over the lower end of handle levei` I0. and a usual clip 25 may be applied to the upper adjacent ends of the loop for securing them together, after which the keeper is released and the tool removed.

Because the jaws I3 and I4 are relatively short, a maximum amount of leverage is applied to the cable on each side of the post I8 at points closely adjacent thereto, so that the cable is bent rather sharply into a relatively small loop. Moreover, the tool is simple and inexpensive to make and easy to operate.

The embodiment of the invention illustrated and described herein is by way of example, and the scope of the invention is not to be limited to exact details of contruction.

I claim:

1. A cable looping tool including a pair of crossed handle levers hinged together on a center pivot and having opposed jaws adapted to abut each other in closed position, cable-engaging hooks on the outer ends of said jaws and laterally oiset from the plane of the jaws, an arm on the center pivot carrying a. bending post extending between and beyond the jaws at right angles to their plane of motion around which to bend a cable upwardly away from said pivot, an abutment on one of said levers in the plane of the hooks for abutting the lower end of the cable loop as it is bent, and said jaws being recessed to t around said post when the jaws are closed.

2. A cable looping tool including a pair of crossed handle levers hinged together on a center pivot and having opposed jaws adapted to abut each other in closed position, cable-engaging hooks on the outer ends of and laterally offset from said jaws, said hooks being spaced apart when the jaws are closed, an arm on the center pivot carrying a bending post extending between and beyond the jaws at right angles to their plane of motion around which to bend a cable upwardly away from said pivot, and an abutment on one of said levers below said pivot for abutting the lower end of the cable loop as it is bent by said hooks.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 131,188 Sneider Sept. 10, 1872 1,096,835 Hairston May 19, 1914 1,167,760 Jones Jan. 11, 1916 1,337,616 Olhovsky Apr. 20, 1920 2,079,505 Hopkins May 4, 1937 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 575,429 Great Britain Feb. 18, 1946 

